I just finished reading another one of those sensationalized NY Post front cover stories. By the time I got to the end of the article, I started asking myself a few questions.
A little background from the 5/1/2003 article, entitled “Mobster Sleeps With The Swishes” first. *
*I’ll be the first to admit this not fodder for great debates, nor is it the type of story anyone is going to lose any sleep over, but I see a couple of pertinent issues arising from the article.
Other than the rather insensitive, non-PC headline & article title, there’s another story here:
An obvious hate-crime was committed. A man was shot down in cold blood because it was rumored he had sexual contact with a member of the same sex.
The victim, a career criminal, mobster and racketeer, had his civil riots violated in the most severe way…he was wiped from the face of the Earth. This wasn’t a power struggle within his crooked organization; this was a senseless & vicious murder.
It will be interesting too over the next few weeks whether:
[ul][li]The Anti Defamation League or the NYC Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence project release a statement condemning this act.[]D’Amato’s murder will help speed passage of S.16 (The Equal Rights and Equal Dignity for Americans Act of 2003) or H.R. 80 (Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2003)[]New hate crimes charges can be brought by NY State against Vitabile, regardless of the outcome of his Federal trial.Even though the crime was commited way before the law’s passageCivil action will be brought against the DeCavalcante Family by surviving members of the victims family for violating his civil rights[/ul][/li]Only time will tell, but I’d bet the answer will be a silent “no” on all four.
